In 2006 I moved to Qatar and things are not what many people in North America would expect - it is not like how the Middle East is portrayed in the media. I'm also a fan of skepticism and science so wondered how this works here in Qatar. Since I'm here for a while I figured I'd use the time to get to know this country better and with this blog you can learn along with me. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - So what posts have been popular recently . . .

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Portrait

A few days ago a friend of mine was surfing the net looking for some local artwork to hang up in his house. He found some nice charcoal sketches by a Yemeni artist who lives in Qatar. My friend called him and found out that he sells his work from a stall at the Souq Waqif Art Centre so we headed out there. My friend bought the two pieces that he liked but came up with an idea -- let's have him do sketches of us as well. I figured what the heck and went along with it.

Now these aren't those 20-minute portraits that you get from guys sitting around tourist areas in Europe, his work typically take a day or two. So the artist took a series of pictures of us and would use them for the drawing.

I went and picked them up today. Here's mine:

So what do you think? Is my forehead really that big?! (I suppose it is. *sigh*)

I'm not sure what it is about the portrait, perhaps it's due to the black/white composition, maybe it's a bit of artistic license, but I think it's a cross between me and someone trying to capture the classic look of an Egyptian movie star. Like I'd be one of the supporting characters shown on the edge of a movie poster or something. Maybe it's the suit.

Anyway it has good detail and came with the frame and glass. I think he did a great job with my friend's portrait (Not going to show you though, sorry).

If you're interested in getting a portrait done just go to the Souq Waqif Art Centre and check out the various tables. A few of the artists there do portraits so hopefully someone has a style that you like.